The Lorraine Hotel, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Originally built as an apartment complex, the Divine Lorraine Hotel is a 124-year-old establishment that has a somewhat twisted past. It was home to a cult, as it was purchased by the International Peace Mission Movement in 1948 in order to provide affordable housing, meals, and a place of worship for rule-abiding followers.

Polissya Hotel, Pripyat, Ukraine

On April 26, 1986, a radioactive release 10 times bigger than the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power station. Around 350,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes, leaving in such a haste that the city looks like it's frozen in time.

Dolls are scattered on the floors of abandoned kindergartens; shreds of sheets and pillows remain on beds; and dishes rot in sinks. Radiation levels in the city are still too high for people to live there, so it remains untouched.

Hotels in Varosha, Famagusta, Cyprus

Varosha, a town on the island of Cyprus, was once popular among tourists, though the entire beachside community is abandoned today. Elizabeth Taylor and Brigitte Bardot both visited Varosha back in its prime, according to the Daily Mail. However, after Turkish troops invaded and occupied the region in 1974, hotels and businesses lost their customers and became vacant.

Today, many beachfront hotels still stand, overlooking the ocean, although they remain eerily empty.

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Grand Hotel Kupari, Kupari, Croatia

A stone's throw away from Dubrovnik, Grand Hotel Kupari was a former military resort built for the elite of the then Yugoslav army and their families. Soon, four more hotels were constructed around it.

Although the other hotels have since been demolished and will soon be replaced by a five-star Marriott, the Grand Hotel remains, protected as a historical building.

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Prora, Rügen, Germany

Prora is a massive, three-mile-long resort complex located on the German island of Rügen on the Baltic Sea.

Construction on this giant beachfront property, meant for members of the Gestapo as well as weary German worker to holiday in, began in 1936, three years before Adolf Hitler invaded Poland. The project came to a halt once World War II began and the site was abandoned until recently.

Rum Orphanage, Büyükada, Istanbul, Turkey

This large wooden building on Büyükada, off the coast of Turkey, was originally designed to be a luxury hotel and casino. Due to issues with permits, however, the building was sold and eventually turned into an orphanage in the early 20th century.

The approximately 215,000 square foot building is reportedly the largest historic timber building in Europe, according to the World Monuments Fund.

After failing as a hotel and ending operations as an orphanage in 1964, the building remained unoccupied for decades. In 2012, restoration began to turn the site into an environmental institute.

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Hotel Ponce Intercontinental, Ponce, Puerto Rico

Hotel Ponce Intercontinental is only a shell of a building now.
Shutterstock / Felix Lipov

Closed since 1975, Hotel Ponce Intercontinental, nicknamed simply "El Ponce," was once a glamorous, 170-room beach resort on top of El Vigia Hill, overlooking the south coast of Puerto Rico.

Due to financial troubles, the once chic hotel has been empty for over 40 years. The building won't remain abandoned for much longer, though, as plans were recently approved for it to be converted into a housing complex for homeless youth that is part of the LGBTQ community.

Grossinger's Catskill Resort, Liberty, New York

The Catskill Mountains in New York are still a popular vacation destination, although this former resort is no longer the luxurious escape it once was.

Grossinger's Catskill Resort in Liberty, New York, has been abandoned since the 1980s. The hotel first opened in the early 1900s, although it really took off in the 1950s. In its heyday, the resort had a swimming pool, golf course, ski slope, and theater, offering amenities for every season.

However, after the resort's owner died in 1972 and the property was sold to a hotel developer, plans to renovate Grossinger's fell through and the resort fell into disrepair. Today, the property is fenced off — though that doesn't stop urban explorers who want to sneak a peek at what remains.

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Sheraton Rarotonga, Cook Islands

The Sheraton Rarotonga is dilapidated and graffiti-ridden.
Shutterstock / ChameleonsEye

This abandoned beach resort is said to have ties to the mafia, and is also believed to be cursed.

The hotel dates back to a 1987 deal between the Cook Islands Government and an Italian bank, and was meant to become a Sheraton. However, an angry local claimed that the land was his, and cursed it. The hotel was never finished, and the remaining structures are now dilapidated and graffiti-ridden.

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Bokor Palace, Bokor Hill Station, Cambodia

The remains of Bokor Palace are open to the public.
Shutterstock / Svetlana Eremina

Bokor Palace was built in 1925 as the main attraction of a new resort town called Bokor Hill Station that was created as a respite for the French military, who had a hard time with Cambodia's heat. However, when the civil war broke out in the 40s, the French military headed back to France, leaving the town abandoned.

Buck Hill Inn, Poconos Mountains, Pennsylvania

Built in 1901, The Buck Hill Inn near Mountainhome, Pennsylvania, used to feature an array of amenities, such as an amphitheater, golf course, horseback riding, an indoor pool, and tennis; however, it was left abandoned in 1990 after a decline in guests.

In 2000, the Buck Hill Inn was used as a location for MTV's show "Fear," which claimed that the hotel was the site of 73 murders, the suicide of one maid, and ghost sightings.